Railway street and station annunciator



Ami? 15 ,1924. a 1,490,253

T. P. BLOSKY RAILWAY STREET AND RAILWAY ANNUNCIATOR Filegl Jan. 23. 1922- 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Z5 Thumas EEJIEIEK Patented Apr. 15, 1924.

THOMAS P. BLOSKY, OF EAST CHICAGO, INDIANA.

RAILWAY STREET AND STATION ANNUNCIATOR.

Application filed January 23, 1922.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS P. BLosKY, a citizen of the United States, residing at East Chicago, in the county of Lake and State of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Street and Station Annunciators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to annunciators for railway cars.

The primary object of the invention is the provision of an annunciator for use in connection with railway cars and the like to automatically announce a street, station, or other location of the car along its path of travel, and thus informing occupants of the car of its location.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an annunciator of the above described character, which includes record and reproducing means located upon the car and along the path of travel of the same for cooperation to announce matter contained on the record within the car.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an improved annunciator apparatus adapted for use upon street railway cars and the like, which includes a plural ity of records positioned at intervals along the line of travel of the car, and an electrically operated reproducer mounted upon the car and adapted for cooperation with the records to announce matter contained thereon, preferably pertinent to the location of the car.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent during the course of the following detailed description.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification and wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views,

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a street railway car showing the improved annunciator apparatus associated therewith.

Figure 2 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 22 of Figure 1,and showing certain details of the improved annunciator.

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1 Figure 4 is a cross sectional view taken on the line ett of Figure 1.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein Serial No. 531,244.

for the purpose of illustration is shown a preferred embodiment of my invention, the letter A designates a car of any approved type having the improved annunciator apparatus B associated therewith for the pro duction of sound Waves within said car to announce streets, stations, car locations, or other matter to the occupants of the car.

The car A, in most instances, may be the ordinary street railway type, including a trolley arrangement 10 and an overhead conducting wire 11, although the same is not limited to this type of railway car, being susceptible of use with subway trains, railroad apparatus, and cars embodying the third rail or underground trolley arrangement. The trolley 10 may be of that type ordinarily found upon street railway cars A and includes the trolley post 12, having an upper yoke end 13 for rotatably receiving a trolley wheel 14, and which has a suitable groove 15 therein for receiving the electrical conducting wire 11 mounted longitudinally of the path of travel of the car A.

The annunciator apparatus B preferably includes a record member 17, and electrical ly operated sound reproducing means 18 which may be respectively positioned upon the conducting wire 11 and the car A.

It is a feature of this invention that the records 17 be mounted in a fixed or predetermined position along the line of travel of the car A for cooperation with the reproducer mechanism 18 carried by the car A itself. Th preferred location of the record 17, and its incidental mechanism, is upon the conducting wire 11, although it may be positioned upon the road bed or other desired location. The record 1'? is preferably of elongated rectangular shape, and may be of metal or other wear resisting material, and having an end 19 thereof upturned to prevent easy access of certain mechanism of the reproducer means 18, to be subsequently set forth, into a longitudinally extending sound groove 20 formed upwardly in the lower surface 21 of the record disc 17; said sound groove 20 being engraved with suitable mat-- ter, preferably pertinent to the location of the record along the line of our travel. In order to properly support and insulate the record 17 from the wire 11, novel means 22 has been provided, including a pair of U- shaped brackets 23 and 241, having one free end 25 of each, soldered, welded, or otherwise connected to the upper surface of the conducting wire 11, and in such manner as not to interfere with the travel of the trolley wheel 1% along said wire 11. The other end 26 of each of the U-shaped brackets 23 and 2d are adjustably disposed in the socket members 27 riveted or otherwise secured to the upper surface of a supporting plate'28;

the latter being spaced from the. record 17 by an insulating disc Bolts 30 are provided at each end of the record 17 disposed eccentric to the sound groove 20 therein for detachably connecting the supporting plate 28, insulating disc 29, and record 17 together, so that the record will be disposed lowermost when supported by brackets 23 and 2a. The bolts are properly insulated from the supporting disc 28 and recorl 17 by sleeves 31 and respectbrely, of any approved insulating material, thus insuring that current will not travel, from the connecting wire 11 into the record 17. Adjusting nuts 33, preferably of the wing type, are disposed in the socket elements 27 for binding engagement with the brackets s3 and 24, so that the record 17 may be raised or lowered with respect to the conducting wire 11, to properly function with positioning of the reprodueer means 18. t is preferred that the sound groove 20 be of straight line formation in the under surface 21 of record 17 and preferably disposed parallel with respect to the conducting wire 11.

The electrically operated reproducer means 18 preferably includes the impulse transmitter 35, and the amplifying receiver or translator 36 connected in circuit therewith. I

The electrically operated impulse transmitter may be of any preferred construction such as that shown in U. S. Patent 1222,2343, granted April 10, 1917, to E. H. Amet, and which includes a stylus 37 adjustably and detachal'ily mounted by suitable mechanism 38 to the stylus arm 39. It preferred, that the stylusarni 39 be con nected to an arm l-O, in a rigid relation there to, by the non-resonant hub structure at; the arm 4'10 being detachably maintained in fixed position from'the trolley apparatus 10 by means It is preferred that the hub structure 11 include a clamping nut 44 whereby the arm 39 may be mounted at one end in fixed manner to extend upwardly substantially as illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, so that the stylus 37 is in direct alignment to engage in the sound groove 20 of the record 17. The impulse transmitter includes the variable resistance transmitting device l5 suitably mounted in juxtaposition to the stylus 37, and adapted for operation therewith to transmit mechanical vibrations incident to travel of the stylus 37 through the sound groove 20 of a record 17.

If preferred, a non-resonant vibration stop or absorbing weight 46 may be posi tioned upon the stylus arm 39 to stabilize the same.

The electrically operated receiving mechanism 36 is similar in construction to the ordinary telephone receiver, and thus provided with the ordinary diaphragms and electromagnets found in such types of receivers for operation thereof to translate electrical vibrations into sound waves. This receiver 36 has the lead or conducting wires 17 and l8 thereof in circuit with suitable terminals 19 and 50 disposed respectively upon the impulse transmitter -l5 and stylus arm 39, to be in connection with the electrodes found in the impulse transmitter 45 and substantially as is specifically shown in ll. S. Patent 1,236,649 granted August ll, 1917, to E. H. Amet. Any suitable electrical energy source 52 may be in circuit with the conducting wires of the electrically operated reproducing mechanism 18. This source of energy 52 may be supplied from the current used in propelling the car A by means of a suitable step-down transformer, or an individual battery may be mounted upon the car A.

It is preferred that the electrically operated receiver 36 be disposed in any suitable manner within the car A, preferably on the inside surface 53 of the car roof 5d; and hav ing a suitable amplifying horn 55 depending therefrom.

As before mentioned, it is a purpose of the invention to have the record 17 engraved with sound grooves designating streets, stations or other locations, and in consequence thereof records 17 will be disposed at predetermined intervals along the path of car travel. Due to the manner in which the records 17 are offset from the conducting wire 11, it can readily be seen that the impulse transmitting device 35, which includes the stylus 37, can effectively engage the engraving in the sound groove 17, whereby the variable resistance within the mechanism is imparted in electrical impulses to the receiving mechanism 33. whereby the same are translated into sound waves auruu'iciated interiorly of the car A. and designating the street, station or other matter pertinent to location of the car A.

From the foregoing, it can be seen that an electrically operated railway street and station announcer has been provided, which is automatic in operation, requiring no manual interference to effect proper announccment, as designated upon the record '17, within the car A, and keeping the passengers or other occupants thereof posted as to the location of the car A along the path of travel.

Various changes in the shape, size and arrangement of parts, may be made to the form of the invention herein shown and described, without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

I claim:

1. In a railway car annunciator, the combination with a car, of a record, a reproducer, and means cooperatively mounting said record and reproducer to the car and along its path of travel to audibly announce matter contained an said record within said car.

2. A car annunciator comprising a sound reproducer, means mounting the same upon a car, a record, and means mounting the record along the line of travel of said car, whereby the reproducer may engage the rec ord to announce matter engraved thereon.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination with a railroad car, of? an electrically operated impulse transmitter including a stylus mounted upon said car, an electric translator mounted within said car, and in circuit with said impulse transmitter, and a record mounted along the path of travel of said car whereby said stylus may engage the same to produce sound waves within the car as determined by the record engraving.

4. In an annunciator of the class described, the combination with a railway car including a trolley and energy conducting wire along the path of travel thereof, of a record mounted on said wire, and reproducing means on said car trolley for engagement with said record as to contact the same whereby matter upon the record will be announced within the car.

5. In an annunciator of the class described, the combination with a car, of reproducing means mounted upon the car and including a stylus, a record mounted along the line of travel of said car including a sound groove arranged substantially longitudinally of the. line of travel of the car and adapted to receive said stylus whereby the reproducing means will announce matter within the car as defined by said record.

6. In a device of the class described, the combination with a railway car, of a record fixedly mounted along the line of: travel of said car, and electrically operated reproducer means mounted on said car for cooperation with said record to audibly announce car locations within said car.

7. In a device of the class described, the combination with a railway car including a trolley and conducting wire, of a record supported from said wire, electrically oper ated reproducing means including an impulse transmitter mounted on the trolley and provided with a stylus and a sound translator, said stylus being so positioned as to engage a sound groove in said record as the car passes said record.

8. In a device of the class described, the combination with a railway car, of a record adjustably mounted in a predetermined position along the line of travel of said car, reproducer means mounted upon said car including a stylus adjustably mounted for engagement with a sound groove of said record as the car passes said record to an nounce matter determined thereon.

9. In a device of the class described, the combination with a railway car having a connecting wire mounted along the path of travel thereof, of brackets mounted upon said wire and offset to a side thereof, a record adjustably mounted upon said brackets including a sound groove, and reproducer means adjustably mounted upon said carand adapted for cooperation with the sound groove in said record to announce matter within the car as defined upon said record.

10. In a device of the class described, the combination with a railway car including a conducting wire arranged along the path of travel of said car, of record means extended from said wire; and electrically operated reproducing means mounted upon said car and including an impulse transmitting device mounted upon the trolley of said car for engagement with the sound groove in said record as the car passes said record, and an electrically operated receiver mechanism in circuit with said impulse transmitter for translation of electrical impulses into sound waves within said car as defined by said impulse transmitter travelling over said record.

11. In a device of the class described, the combination with railway apparatus including a car, of reproducer means arranged upon said car, and a record arranged in determined position along the'line of travel or said car having an entrance end thereof outturned from the normal plane of the sound groove within said record, to permit easy access of said reproducer means for engagement upon said record.

THOMAS P. BLOSKY. 

